Lifeline of rural Maharashtra stopped; What is the situation on the second day of the strike? From how many depots does the traffic start?

As the pending demands of the State Transport (ST) Corporation employees were not met, the ST Workers’ Joint Action Committee started an indefinite strike from Tuesday. This directly affected ST passengers across the state. Even today, nearly 63 factories are completely closed.*The executive committee of the State Transport Corporation’s state-level labor union held a meeting on August 14 and gave the state government till August 27 to accept the pending demands of the workers. Then on August 28, the district level executive of the workers staged demonstrations and warned that the ST Corporation workers would go on strike from September 3. However, as the state government did not take into account the demands of the workers, it adversely affected the day-to-day work of the ST Corporation. On Friday, traffic was disrupted from many places. So, even today the working class is suffering. As of 8 am today, 63 out of 251 ST stations across the state are completely closed. Traffic is partially running in 73 depots and fully traffic is running smoothly in 115 depots. The run of ST, which is known as the lifeline of rural Maharashtra, slowed down on Tuesday due to the employee agitation. A similar situation has arisen even today. Many government offices were closed yesterday due to bullfight. But, today, as the government and private offices will open in regular time, the working class is suffering a lot. Also, during Ganeshotsav period, the passengers have to face a lot of grief as the bus does not leave from Agar. In many areas, the ST service connecting the wadi settlements to the main city has come to a standstill. Many people who have gone to their villages for Ganeshotsav have to bear the financial burden and rely on private vehicles. Humble request.. pic.twitter.com/QBS3gIkx1j— Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (@msrtcofficial) September 3, 2024 Salaries should be paid according to the 7th Pay Commission, difference in salary increments like government employees. A joint action committee formed by most of the organizations of the ST Corporation has called this protest for the demands to remove, pay the arrears of dearness allowance, remove the defects in the contract, change the discipline and application method, implement the medical cashless scheme etc. A meeting of ST trade unions will be held today. Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, Industry Minister Uday Samant had a discussion with the delegation of the committee. Samant appealed that the government is positive about the demands and should not inconvenience the passengers by protesting during the festive season. However, the meeting could not take place as the organization refused to withdraw the agitation until the demands were met. ST Corporation has also appealed to the employees not to take any action that will cause inconvenience to the passengers.